It is just a short time before Benjamin and I board a plane to Chicago for the weekend, but I've been meaning to get the newest photos online and blog, so here it is.

Last weekend I travelled down to Winona to visit friends from college for a fun-filled night. I finally got to see my friend Tina's baby, Eleanor, who is adorable! Tina and Samantha and I went to LaCrosse as a kind of post-baby-celebration. We had a great time. Mike and Benjamin drove down on Sunday and we all were able to hang out for a while.

Earlier in the week we surprised Mike's Mom for her birthday by showing up for dinner...and staying for two nights! While up in the cities, we played with AJ and Benjamin's uncles/aunt and even snuck in a little time away for some drinks and dinner with Joe and Jen.

The 4th was relaxing, we didn't really do very much. Mike ran a 5 mile race in Stewartville that morning and Benjamin and I came out to watch. He did really well despite some pretty bad humidity. Other than that, we just grilled some hot dogs and spent some time watching Benjamin play in his new sandbox from G&G Andrews.

The newest batch of photos also includes some shots of the All Comers Track Meet, which Benjamin has run in twice. The Rochester Track Club puts this event on for kids of all ages. We're still trying to get Benjamin to run the full length of the race by himself, he gets kind of overwhelmed with the whole thing. His favorite part is getting a mark from a marker on his hand at the end (a way for the volunteers to know he got a ribbon), he thinks it makes him very special!

As I said before, we are off to Chicago in just a couple of hours. We are throwing Erin a baby shower on Saturday and all sorts of out of town family will be in. Benjamin can't wait to see his "Great Ahma"!!!